With increased scrutiny of the profession, it’s time for auditing to be in the public interest May 16, 2019 Auditing in the UK is undergoing unprecedented scrutiny, and the magnifying scope is focusing on all aspects of the sector. The myriad reviews, some of which are ongoing, are being conducted by regulators, politicians and government departments, each separately looking at audit’s effectiveness, competition across the sector, and its future in general. Most notably, the [...]
Walmart mulls Asda IPO after Sainsbury’s merger blocked May 15, 2019 Retail giant Walmart has said it is considering a stock market listing for Asda, just weeks after the supermarket’s failed attempt to merge with rival Sainsbury’s. Walmart International boss Judith McKenna said the US chain is considering an initial public offering (IPO) for its UK subsidiary, but said it was “not rushing into anything”. Read [...]
Non-Standard Finance confident of winning competition watchdog approval for £1.3bn Provident bid May 13, 2019 Non-Standard Finance said it expected to alleviate the competition watchdog’s concerns over its proposed £1.3bn hostile takeover of rival subprime lender Provident. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation into the potential deal in February and prevented NSF from taking steps to integrate the two businesses. Read more: Sparks fly as Provident accused [...]
Grave danger: Dignity posts falling profit as death rate dip takes bite out of results May 13, 2019 A dip in the number of Brits dying in the first three months of the year buried profits at Dignity, the funeral provider reported today. It comes as pressure has been growing on the funeral industry, which is facing a competition probe into its practices and prices. Read more: Hymns fall out of funeral charts as [...]
Privacy Policy May 13, 2019 Privacy Notice Last Updated: [24/10/2024] CITY A.M. LIMITED is committed to protecting our customer’s privacy. Please take the time to review this notice which explains what information we collect about you, how we use it, and your rights. CITY AM LIMITED (“THG”, “we” or “us”) is the data controller of the personal data collected via [...]
Why bombed-out Sainsbury’s leads the FTSE 100 May 10, 2019 Hammered since the Asda merger was blocked, our head of markets explains the surge to a three-week high. Rather than fight the decision of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Sainsbury (LSE:SBRY) and Asda decided to call off the wedding. This leaves a huge strategic question mark over where Sainsbury's goes next. Not surprisingly, the [...]
Sparks fly as Provident accused of ‘scaremongering’ over hostile Non-Standard Finance bid May 10, 2019 Non-Standard Finance (NSF) has hit out at the management of Provident Financial, accusing it of “scaremongering” in a bid to fend off a hostile takeover. NSF, which launched the £1.3bn bid in February, today accused Provident of going “to great lengths to deflect attention from its flawed strategy, regulatory breaches, broken promises and underwhelming financial [...]
Editor’s Notes: Harmony is in short supply in the EU as challenges loom large May 10, 2019 Faced with some major non-Brexit challenges of their own, the leaders of the EU27 and the heads of the EU’s powerful institutions are meeting in Sibiu, Romania for a summit. What’s emerged so far is the Sibiu Declaration, a beautifully vague and vacuous document committing the EU to a range of platitudinous positions such as: [...]
Provident Financial says hostile bidder Non-Standard Finance is overvalued May 8, 2019 Provident Financial today said it had concerns about the valuation of Non-Standard Finance (NSF) which is trying to take it over. Provident said it had concerns NSF was undercapitalised, it said NSF’s business was facing “significant headwinds”, it said there was an overly positive perspective on NSF’s headline financial performance and said NSF was overvalued [...]
City watchdog proposes mortgage shake-up to boost consumer choice May 7, 2019 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) today announced changes to mortgage advice rules to try and increase choice for consumers. The City watchdog identified a number of ways its advice rules are acting as a barrier to the development of new tools to help consumers choose and buy a mortgage and the new rules are aimed [...]